Agricultural Adviser

m/w Agricultural Adviser

Agricultural Development Program

Jezzine - Lebanon

Introduction 

The European Institute for Cooperation and Development (IECD) is a French non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1988 and operating in the field of social and economic development in partnership with local institutions. IECD’s main sectors of action are vocational training and professional integration, assistance to micro and small enterprises and access to education for the most vulnerable. IECD has been operating in Lebanon since 1988 and opened a regional office in Beirut in 2007. 

The agricultural development program aims to create farming opportunities while adopting an agroecology approach and preserving the environment.  

This five-year project has two main components:

• Providing new farmers with installation assistance
• Supporting the transition toward agroecology practices

The main subsectors targeted are: market gardening, arboriculture, beekeeping, and aromatic plants and in a lesser extent the processing related to these agricultural produce. 

This new project will be implemented in the South area (Jezzine area in particular) and in the Aley caza (Rechmaya and surroundings).  

To implement the program activities, IECD is looking for an agricultural adviser. 

MISSION  

Under the responsibility of the project manager, the agricultural adviser will be responsible of:  

1/ Support the organization of the training program

• Ensure the logistics related to the sessions

• Plan, prepare and co-animate the practical component

• Contribute to design the contents of training sessions in market gardening
• Implement individual follow-up with the newly installed farmers
• Ensure positive impact on the beneficiaries and a qualitative project 
• Suggest improvements 

2/ Manage the project equipment and facilities 

• Take care of the project equipment (vehicle, tools) including the maintenance activities
• Manage the three main facilities (nursery, honey unit and processing unit)
• Collect and analyze data on the processing components

3/ External missions 

• Support international experts’ interventions during their mission
• Facilitate encounters with beneficiaries and other stakeholders

4/ Sites supervision and conversion to agroecology practices

• Support experts and consultants’ missions in the two sites 
• Contribute to the supervision of any works on the sites
• Support the partner’s endeavors to convert land to agroecology practices

5/ Reporting, Monitoring & Evaluation   

• Collect data on a regular way (production, harvest, post-harvest, etc.)
• Participate in the preparation of reports

• Support the preparation of fundraising applications   

6/ Knowledge management

• Support the development and update of technical monitoring tools (demo plots and at farms’ level) and analyze data.  

• Support the development contents of technical material in order to support the transition towards agroecology.  

PROFILE 

Education: Degree in agronomy.  

Experience: Minimum 2 years of experience in working in agriculture.  

Previous experience in market gardening, beekeeping and/or aromatic plant.  

Field experience in farms is a must.  

Required skills and competencies:  

• Excellent interpersonal and facilitation skills 
• Strong motivation to work on the field with various profiles of beneficiaries and partners 

• Adaptability and excellent listening skills 
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Show initiative and be able to work independently, strong autonomy  
• Good organizational skills, ability to co-develop and follow a detailed project plan to track progress
• Ability to identify project objectives and work towards them

• Ability to use appropriate verification techniques to manage changes in project scope, schedule, procurement, and costs 
• Native command of the Arabic language and high proficiency of English or French 
• Good command of pack office